Bali 2016 Day 3 – Monkey Forest, Ulun Danu temple and Tanah Lot sunset

Baby K was the pre alarm as he asked for milk at around 540am. The room was very cold despite having set the thermostat at 24degC (which I suspect that it wasn’t working). I got off to the beach for the sunrise moments after baby K had finished his milk and gone back to sleep.

Though the skies above me were clear, the clouds in the distance meant that I won’t get a clear sunrise, I wondered if it was due to the mountain in the horizon. I waited on one of the loungers without paying much attention, then out of the blue the big orange yolk peeked out of the horizon, climbing quickly. I walked closer to the water to snap a few photos.

When I got back to the room, it was the start of a long day, beginning with food preparations for baby K for the day trip. Once done with the prep and leaving the food in the portable steamer to simmer, we left the room at 8am for the restaurant. Breakfast took at least an hour and we got back to the room to pack the food and got ready. Knowing that we wouldn’t make it in time, I had went to the recept previously to inform that we couldn’t make the 9am timing and was assured that we could just enjoy the breakfast first.

As we got out at 930am, the driver was ready with the same vehicle that we had since the airport transfer. The difference was that there was a cooler box where the mini bar drinks options were all transferred to the cooler box, for free.

Our first stop was 2 hrs away, the Monkey Forest in Ubud. Baby K fell asleep en-route and woke just when we were dropped off at the entrance. Paid 80k for the tickets to a rather small forested area where there were a lot of free roaming monkeys. They were going for bananas from tourists who have bought them on sale from some of the vendors. Some visitors used the bananas to lure the monkey to get a picture of the monkey on them. In this forest were 2 temples, both of which were small and no entry was allowed. Other than the old stone statues, old bridge and a wooden walk path, there weren’t particularly much to see.

On crossing the bridge, one monkey actually took a hanky from the side pocket of our bag. I wanted to grab it back but was met with an open mouth showing some sharp teeth. Waited till he dropped it before recovering the hanky. There were also 2 instances where monkeys just climb onto our bags and jumped off somewhere. We were actually concerned if the monkeys would suddenly attack our baby. We left after an hour at the forest.

The next stop was a small Ubud Palace (Puri Saren Ubud) that looked more like a village to me. We took a few snaps of the small area before going across the street for the Ubud art market, where there was a building with 2 floors selling a whole lot of handicraft. There were also many stalls outside the building but our lack of interest in the art and craft and the heat from the weather made us retire early from this 30mins walk.

The driver came back and took us to a restaurant called Bebek Bengil Dirty Duck diner to have lunch. The restaurant was a very huge area with tables placed at different small buildings. They were not air conditioned but due to the openness, it was quite airy. We had our lunch at one of the short tables, like the Japanese type, where you have to sit with your legs crossed or kneeled. Baby K had fun walking about on the cushions and it was difficult just getting him to eat.

We ordered fried rice and fried chicken rice because they had ran out of duck ironically, food wasn’t particularly fantastic. I brought baby K to walk around the path downstairs which had some small ponds and water fountain and took some pictures.

The driver was called by the valet at the restaurant to pick us up, identified by a car number card. We then left for another 2hrs drive to Ulun Danu Bratan temple. This journey was long as it had to go through many small roads where traffic was heavy and the driver drove rather quickly, moving in and out to overtake the vehicles travelling on the single lane. Baby K was feeling uncomfortable and was fussy, until a point he just fell asleep.

As the car climbed, the weather became bad and it started drizzling. After the long drive, we arrived at a crowded carpark and mommy had to enter the temple alone as baby K laid sleeping on my lap and it was drizzling. Baby K woke up soon after and as we waited for mommy to return, I had to change out his diapers as he had pooped in the car. Thankfully the driver was out smoking somewhere else and didn’t had to endure the stinky atmosphere.

After mommy returned, I went to the temple myself, paying 30k for the tickets. The compound was big, consisting of a nice garden and the temple by the lake. The drizzle continued and it was a struggle to walk on the wet path without getting wet. Took some pictures of the temple on the lake in the foggy atmosphere before leaving for the next destination, Tanah Lot temple for the sunset, another 1hour drive away.

Again it was small roads and overtaking. We arrived at yet another crowded carpark but was informed by the driver that there weren’t any sunset due to the clouds. We got off to visit anyway and was met with hordes of people all over the place. The place was still beautiful though as the temple had a small portion of it in the sea water and there was a queue of people in the ankle deep water trying to get into the temple. It was nice feeling seeing and hearing the sea crashing onto the rocky shores. After getting some help in getting a picture of us with the temple, we decided to leave the area to go to a supermarket in Seminyak in order to purchase some food for the preparation of baby meal for the next day. Called the driver to bring us to a supermarket (Frestive supermarket) in Seminyak which was another 40mins drive plus the heavy traffic there.

As we arrived, baby K again fell asleep and mommy left the car for the supermarket to buy some minced meat. Then we took the last 1hr drive back to the resort. That night, we ordered in room dining (less options than eating at the restaurant itself) as we stayed in to cook and clean up. Had no problems sleeping as it had been a long day.